


A Friendly Conversation

by MonkyingAround



Category: Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!
Genre: F/M, Figuring out their relationship, One Shot, Who are they to each other, all that jazz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25556020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonkyingAround/pseuds/MonkyingAround
Summary: Antauri was looking forward to some peace and quiet, but Jacey has other plans.
Kudos: 6





	A Friendly Conversation

The whooshing of his bedroom doors had always been a calming noise for Antauri, a signal that his sanctuary was welcoming him back into the tranquility he’d so carefully cultivated. However when he opened the door there was a disruptive energy that met him instead, one easily identified by the scraggly, brown monkey sitting in the center of his room. Jacey had set up a small tea table on his man-made island and was currently pouring a steaming golden liquid from a teapot into two teacups set before her. Once done pouring, Jacey turned to face him as though she’d just noticed he arrived.

“Ah, there you are. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show.” She spoke casually as she placed the teapot down on a trivet set in the center of the table.

Antauri was stunned, he didn’t recall agreeing to a meeting. Still, she was here so she wanted something from him. Deciding that, for the moment, it was best to let this happen, the silver simian took a seat opposite Jacey. She slid one of the full cups to his side of the table and began to happily sip from her own. Still a bit irritated about this sudden visit, Antauri decided to cut to the chase.

“Jacey, is there any reason in particular you are in my room?”

“Now, now,” she waved her finger at him as though to scold him. “Is that any way to talk to a guest?”

“I do believe that in order to be a guest, one must first be invited.”

The clearly fake shock on her face was both priceless and agitating. “Why Antauri! I’m surprised at you. I thought your door was always open to us poor, lowly peasants.” She batted her eyes dramatically as she dragged out the low in lowly. “Besides, is it really so hard to believe I stopped by purely with the intention to see you? Build comradery?”

While he had to admit it wasn’t impossible…“It does seem extremely unlikely.”

The smirk that bloomed on her face was a bit too wide not to be a tad suspicious of, but at least she dropped the offended act. Placing down her cup, she looked at his own and then back to him.

“You haven’t touched your tea,” she said, prompting Antauri to look down at his cup. “It’s my own special jasmine blend. A little birdie told me you’d enjoy that.”

After taking a moment to wonder which one of his teammates was this ‘little birdie’ he took up the cup, taking notice for the first time that it was not one of his own. It was made of fine porcelain, bright white and shaped like a blooming flower, the tea shimmering in the gentle light. He lifted the cup to his lips and took a hesitant sip. His sensors were overloaded by the flavor, smiling as he took in the bittersweet serenity of the jasmine. Since his life as the silver monkey began he’d received quite a few upgrades to mimic the flesh and blood body he’d had before. Though all of his senses were back they were somewhat...dulled. Not in intensity exactly, but it was as though there was a disconnect between his physical senses and his spirit. Despite this, or maybe because of it, he reveled in the deep taste a good long while before swallowing, exhaling a contented sigh.

When he opened his eyes, not realizing he’d closed them while savoring the flavor, his content shifted to confusion when he saw Jacey staring at him from across the table with a goofy grin on her face. There wasn’t any darker intent hidden in her eyes, just pure amusement, which made it all the more odd coming from her.

“Is there a problem?”

His question seemed to shake her out of whatever stupor she was in and she quickly composed herself.

“No, not at all,” she said. “I just find it quite interesting that a robot could appreciate flavor. How do you taste it exactly?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to ask Otto for more details in that regard. He and Gibson collaborated to engineer tastebuds for me.” He lifted his cup again for another sip.

“Oh, that’s most peculiar.”

Antauri stopped in his tracks. Something about the way she said that gave him a sense of foreboding. He stared into her pitch-black eyes, searching for her true intention.

“How so?”

“Well, it seems a bit odd that a team of superheroes would put in so much extra work for an upgrade that, while fascinating, is ultimately impractical.”

Her pompous smile returned. He put down his cup.

“What are you trying to say?” His voice was beginning to tighten with irritation.

“You weren’t always 100 percent machine, were you?”

And there it was. Antauri had his doubts before but now he knew, this wasn’t a friendly conversation, it was her probing him for information. Information he would have given her willingly had she only asked. It wasn’t her knowing that made him upset, it was how brazenly she toyed with him to get that information that bothered him. Nonetheless, he swallowed his distaste and replied.

“That is correct,” he answered as calm as he could manage. “I was once a cyborg alongside my monkey brethren.”

The smirk on her face fell. Apparently his response had caught her off guard. “Oh.” She looked almost...disappointed?

“Is there any reason you wanted to know?” 

“Not in particular. I had my suspicions for a while, so I figured I should confirm them.”

“So you knew before you came here?”

Her cocky grin returned. “More or less. Though I figured it’d be best to get it straight from the horse’s mouth, or the monkey’s in this case.”

“You could have simply asked. I am willing to answer any questions you have.”

She scoffed and picked her teacup back up. “Please, where’s the fun in that?”

Antauri pinched the area between his eyes and sighed. Of course. Of course this was all a big game to her. It should have been obvious looking back on it, catching him by surprise with a full tea table set up. Maybe he was too hopeful she could have wanted to have a genuine discussion.

The gentle clatter of Jacey’s empty cup against the table caught his attention.

“I’m done here,” she said. She grabbed her cane, which was laying off to the side, and stood up. Antauri flinched at the sudden movement, surprised by her decision.

“Did you find the answers you were looking for?”

She paused, studying his face for a good long minute before speaking again. “No, I didn’t.” She turned away. “But you’re being boring, so I’ll take my leave.”

Something about how matter-of-fact she sounded really made that sting.

She made her way to the door, leaving her tea set behind without a second thought. The doors whooshed open, but before she left she faced him one last time. “I hope you enjoy that tea. It was grown in one of the most spiritually rich areas in the universe. It is said you can taste it in your soul.”

She turned and walked, the doors closing behind her. Even after she was out of sight, he could sense her chaotic energy getting father and farther away until it all but faded away. 

Antauri let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, only now realizing how much tension had gathered in his chest. Jacey was an...experience. One he needed more practice handling to come out unscathed.

He glanced down at his teacup. Tea you can taste in your soul. Hm? He lifted it up to his lips and took another sip. It tasted more bitter than before, however it was a flavor he knew he’d crave more of.


End file.
